This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

AUTO NEWS: Illness keeps Sir Jackie away from motorsport gala

The Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame held its annual induction gala at the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio last Saturday night. However, the featured guest and this year’s International inductee, Sir Jackie Stewart, was unable to attend at the last minute.

Hall of Fame Chairman Dr. Hugh Scully told the audience that Stewart was suffering from health problems and sent his regrets. He was represented at the ceremony by CTV sportscaster Brian Williams, who worked with him on F1 telecasts of the Canadian Grand Prix when the CBC would broadcast them live.

Four Canadians were inducted — Alex Tagliani, Ralph Luciw, Don Thomson Jr. and the late John Chisholm, who was represented by his son Donald, who’s a Maritime racing champion in his own right.

More photographs from the evening can be seen by calling up www.thestar.com/autos , the website that features Toronto Star Wheels columns and stories exclusively.

Alliston unveiling

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

for new Honda Civic

The ultra modern production line at Honda Canada Manufacturing in Alliston came to a standstill on Tuesday afternoon as Canadian Olympian and host of the Amazing Race Canada, Jon Montgomery, mounted the stage to kick off the unveiling of the all-new Honda Civic.

The 10th-generation Civic marks an important landmark for Honda in this country, as Honda Manufacturing Canada is the lead plant for the new Civic (which means that all other manufacturing plants in the world follow its direction).

This is the first time that a North American plant has taken the lead for a Global Honda model.

Civic is Honda's top selling model globally along with being the top-selling car in Canada for 17 years running and the most popular compact in the United States for the past nine years.

With a three-year plant update to the tune of $857 million leading up to the production of the 2016 model, Plant 1 in Alliston boasts some other interesting statistics.

— One car comes off the production line every three seconds.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

— From start to finish, it takes 13 hours to complete one vehicle.

— Seven hours of that time is taken up in the paint process.

— The paint shop can spray up to seven different colours at the same time.

— Twenty-three per cent of the cars built in Alliston will stay in Canada.

Alliston produces both two- and four-door models, as does a Honda factory in Indiana. The all-new, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine will only be built in Ontario, however.

Volvo XC90 named

Women's World Car

Studies suggest that women influence as many as 80 per cent of all new-car purchases. That’s a pretty substantial number, so it might seem counter intuitive that so many automotive awards programs are judged primarily by men.

This is why the Women's World Car of the Year program is so important. It might just be the most relevant awards program for global consumers.

The judging panel is made up of 19 journalists from 13 countries. Canada is well represented by Regina Chan from British Columbia and regular Toronto Star Wheels contributor Jil McIntosh.

The Volvo XC90 received the crown of Women's World Car of the Year, along with taking the win in the SUV-Crossover category.

The remainder of the category winners included:

Family Car: Renault Espace

Budget Car: Scion iM/Toyota Auris

SUV Crossover: Volvo XC90

Green Car: BMW i8

Luxury Car: Mercedes S-Class

Performance Car: Mercedes GT AMG

A special category of Dream Car was for the vehicle that judges would aspire to own. The all new Mazda MX-5 was the clear winner.

Winter is coming!

Auto Vault has answer.

Gary Shapiro may not look like Jon Snow, but his car storage facility is much like The Wall in Game of Thrones except that Auto Vault protects cars instead of communities.

Unlike The Wall, Auto Vault cannot be seen from miles around. Instead, the centrally located bunker is conveniently hidden from most eyes and features state of the art security.

The massive facility even has staff to exercise the vehicles on site to ensure batteries stay fresh over the Winter.

If you have bought a new car in Southern Ontario in the past few decades, chances are pretty good that you have used products from Sym-Tech, even if you don't know the company's name.

Established in 1971, Sym-Tech has been a supplier of products like rust-proofing to many car dealers.

To reinvest in the industry, Sym-Tech created a scholarship program at Georgian College’s Automotive Business School of Canada in Barrie back in 2011. This year's winner, Kyle Diniz, receives $2,000 and the opportunity to gain experience during a co-op stint at Sym-Tech.

Freelance writer Gary Grant is a regular contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. To reach him, email wheels@thestar.ca and put his name in the subject line.

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com